Packaging



G. R. WEBBER ET AL 2,157,193

PACKAGING Filed April is; 1955 2 SheetsSheet 1 w ZJ/I I ll May 9, 1939.

a. R. WEBBER ET AL 2,157,193

PACKAGING Filed April 13, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY function and appearance. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a blank used in forming 5 More particularly, objects of the invention at a liner for the package; to provide a package which has a markedly at- Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showtractive appearance, in which economical maing the manner of folding one end of the liner; terials are effectively utilized, and which is easy Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the liner to assemble and fill. at the completion of the step shown in Fig. 4; '10

Further objects of the invention are to provide Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the applia package for contents of the class hereinafter cation of the side-walls and an end-wall to the described, which has a definite form comprising liner shown in Fig. 5; non-yielding side-walls bounded by well defined Fig. '7 is a perspective view showing a further corners, and which has the hardness and genstage in the application of the end-wall; l5

eral tactility of a rigidly constructed container, Fig. 8 is aperspective view showing the package but which is made up largely from paper or simiat the completion of the operation shown in lar inexpensive flexible material. Fig. 7;

Another object of the invention -is to provide a Fig. 9 is a transverse vertical sectional view packagehaving side-walls covered with a limited showing the operation of loading the package of 20 quantity of metallic foil, which has substantially Fig. 8 in a mold; the visual aspect of a package having its side- Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing a further walls entirely foil covered. stage in the assembly of the package involving a A more specific object of the invention is to folding down of the liner over its contents;

provide a package constructed with flexible side- Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing the folding 25 walls covered with a limited quantity of metallic of the side-walls and the application of an endfoil, yet which has substantially the visual and wall; tactual aspects of a container formed entirely of Fig. 12 is a perspective view she wing the packmetal. 7 age of Fig. 11 with its end-wall aflixed in position;

Another object of the invention is to provide and 30 an improved method 01' packaging contents of Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a completed the class herein contemplated. package,'a portion of the covering or label there- Yet another object of the invention is the of being turned back better to show the structure. provision of suitable-steps for forming a package The class of contents intended for packaging having one or more of the advantageous charin accordance with the present invention com- 35 acteristics mentioned above, including the steps prises substances which are sufllciently loose or of so compacting and confining the contents that plastic to be moldable, and which are substanthey serve rigidly to support the package sidetial enough to be compacted or shaped into a walls. substantially unyielding body. Such contents in- Other objects of the invention will in part be clude, for example, granular substances such as 40 obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. coffee, cereals, salt, sugar and the like; pulveru- The invention accordingly comprises the sevlent or powdery substances such .as flour; leafy eral steps and the relation of one or more of such substances such as tea and tobacco; and plastic steps with respect to each of the others, and the substances such as dried fruitsg and the like.

article possessing the features, properties, and These last substances, namely dried fruits, have the relation of elements. which are exemplified heretofore been put up in packages having a in the following detaileddisclosure, and the scope definite form through compression or molding of the application of which will be indicated in of the contents. This has been feasible in this the claims. particular instance where the adherent properties For a fuller understanding of the nature and and relative immobility of the contents are such 50 Patented May 9, 193$ PACKAGING George B. Webber, Palisades, and Thomas Russel Baxter, Plainfield, N. 1., assignors to Standard Brands Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a cornotation of Delaware Application April 13, 1935, Serial No. 16,162

5 Claims.

This invention relates to packages and to a method of packaging.

A general object of the invention is to provide a package having improved characteristics as to objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

ing the side-walls of a package embodying principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the blank shown in Fig. 1; i

that they may be molded into a compact ,body which is self-sustaining regardless of the package structure used to cover it. The present invention, however, goes beyond this in that it 5 Fig.1 is a plan view of a blank usediniormprovides a package made largely of flexible macase of self-sustaining bodies such as dried fruits.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a blank III which is used in forming the side-walls of the package and which is .made of fiexible material, preferably thin but strong bond paper. The illustrated blank shown in Fig. 1 is adapted to be used in the construction of a rectangularly sectioned package and to this end includes a front-wall area il, back-wall areas l2 and edge-wall areas IS, the several areas being separated by foldlines such as I4, which are adapted to be formed during the assembly of the package, as will be hereinafter explained. 'Two spaced side-wall sections, such as the edge sections H, which are located on opposite sides of the ultimately formed package, have strips of metallic foil l5 overlying and adhesively fastened to them. These strips extend from top to bottom of the blank ill and are of suflicient width so as completely to overlie the edge-wall areas l3 and further to extend into and overlap portions of the adjacent front and back wall areas, as illustrated.

In the presently illustrated form of the invention the side-wall blank described above is adapted to be used in conjunction with a liner l6 which is formed of flexible and, where foodstuffs and the like are to be packaged, preferably moisture-proof material, such as glassine, moisture-proof regenerated cellulose or the like. As indicated in Fig. 4, the liner i6 is folded about a rectangularly shaped mandrel so as to form front, edge and back walls, the last of which are overlapped and adhesively fastened to each other along a seam i'l. Theliner i6 is positioned on the mandrel with an overhanging end allowance l8 which is folded over in the manner indicated in Fig. 4 and adhesively fixed in place as shown in Fig. 5 to provide a closure at one end of the liner.

As shown in Fig. 6, while the liner is still on the mandrel, the blank I0 is positioned thereover and is also folded around the mandrel so as to define the respective front, edge and back walls, the last being adhesively fastened along an overlapped seam IS. The blank I0 is placed over the mandrel with a projecting end allowance 20 and the portions thereof comprising extensions of the front and back walls are folded down over the end of the mandrel as indicated at 2i. These folded over portions approach, but do not reach, each other, being spaced as shown in Fig. 6.

At this stage an end-wall 22 is placed against the infolded allowance portions 2| and against the closed end of the liner at i8, and its marginal portions are preferably adhesively affixed to the allowance at 2|. This end wall is rigid, being formed of heavy cardboard, fiber board, or similar substantially unbending material. As illustrated, it is rectangular and preferably has slightly rounded though'well defined corners as shown at 23. .This first applied end-wall 22 is adapted to form the top of the completed package, and has a scored portion 24 defining a movable closure'which is adapted to overly the liner l6 between the spaced allowance edges 2i of the outer side-walls. After the end-wall has been positioned againstthe inturned allowance portions 2i, the allowance portions forming extensions of the side-walls l3 are folded down over the outside face of the end-wall 22 as indicated at 25 in Fig. 7. These overlaps 25 are adhesively secured to the end-wall. At this stage the assembly is removed from the mandrel. It has the appearance shown in Fig. 8, comprising an open ended container having flexible side-walls and one rigid end-wall.

The package is now ready for filling. To this end it is placed in a mold 26 having a rectangularly sectioned interior cavity 21 which has well defined corners and coresponds approximately in sectional shape and extent with the rigid endwall 22. Contents of the class described above are now inserted in the open end of the package. These are subjected to compacting processes which cause them completely to fill the interior of the package. In the case of coffee, for example, the desired compacting is suitably obtained by partially filling the container, say to about three-fourths of its intended capacity, and then vibrating and ramming the coffee into the package. Vibration may be imparted in any manner familiarly known in the packing of coffee and similar granular substances. As shown in Fig. 9, the package has thus been three-fourths filled with coffee 28 which has been vibrated into place. In addition to such vibration, thecofiee is subjected to considerable compacting pressure by a ram 29 which fits snugly within the package side-walls. The ram is then withdrawn and the remainder of the contents are inserted. These, too, are subjected to compacting either by vibration and ramming or by ramming alone.

The package contents are compacted and molded to an extent sufficient to compel them to assume the definite shape imposed by the mold 26, and they are compressed within the interior of the package to an extent considerable enough to form them into a substantially unyielding body which enables them rigidly to support the side-walls. By rigidly supported side-walls, it is meant that after the contents are confined in a manner such as that hereinafter described in connection with the remaining steps needed to complete the package, the compacted contents so support the flexible side-walls that they are not subject to surface indentations, and the package when grasped is hard and unyielding, having the tactility of a rigidly formed container, such as one formed of tin or the like. Perhaps a closer description of the rigidity of the side-walls of the package is that, when grasped, it feels as though it contains an unyielding object such as a block of wood. In any event, the paper walled package has striking tactual characteristics, and its flexible side-walls are rigidly supported in the sense that they can be indented or displaced only with the utmost difilculty, and with great abuse. They are well adapted to maintain their definite shape and pronounced corners throughout the ordinary handling vof the package attendant upon shipping and merchandising it.

After the package has been completely filled, and its contents compacted to the desired extent,

the liner I6 is folded down closely over the top of the enclosed contents as shown in Fig. 10. If desired, this folded closure may beheld in place with adhesive.

Next, as shown in Fig. 11, the upwardly projecting end allowances, comprising extensions of the front and-back walls, are folded down over the closed end of the liner, as indicated at 30. These allowance sections 30 are pulled very tightly and snugly against the package contents.

down against the outside face ofend-wall 3| as indicated at 32. v

In thus closing the open end of the package so as t form a bottom therefor, care is taken to see that, the rigid end-wall is held tightly against the compacted package contents, and the two endwalls 22 and 3| are respectively held against any separation 'or extension by the overlapped end about or to yield in any manner. The rigid endwalls, which are held togetherby the rigidly supported flexible side-walls, serve to maintain the package in its definitely acquired shape so that there is no tendency for the side-walls to wrinkle or sag, and, further than this, such side-walls are maintained in absolutely smooth condition and are supported in fixed planes bounded by well cleflned corner The compete filling of the package possesses the further advantage of providing no space for air therewithin, and this minimizing of the amount of air that can possibly be contained within the package is of considerablebeneflt in preserving goods such as coffee.

After the package has been filled and both end-walls attached thereto, it has the appearance shown in Fig. 12. Here,it will be noted that the side-walls l3 are covered with foil I5 which partially overlaps the front and back walls. In

and the back-wall 12. These labels extend laterally sufllciently to overlap the edges of foil l5 as shown at 34, but preferably they do not extend entirely over to the corners 35 (Fig. 13). This partial exposure of the foil on the front and back walls, coupled with the concealment of its edges, makes the package appear as though it were entirely foil wrapped, and this, coupled with its hardness and unyielding wall structure, provides a package having very attractive visual and tactual aspects. Considerable economy is effected in obtaining this attractive appearance through limiting the quantity of the relatively expensive metallic foil in the manner described while still providing a package which appears to be entirely foil covered, and which, when provided with rigidly supported side-walls,-even, resembles a metallic container.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above I method, and certain modifications in the article which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall .be

scribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A package of a'relatively dry, non-tacky, mobile mass of divided substance, having rigid relatively unbendable end-walls anchored to each other against mutual separation by flexible sidewalls attached to and extending under tensional stress from the margins of one end-wall to those of the other, said package having its confined contents solidly compacted under pressure into a substantially unyielding block or mass in compressive engagement between and against the end-walls occupying all of the available space therein so that they are substantially non-shiftable and fully engage all of the package walls and tension the side-walls between the end-walls.

2.'A package of a relatively dry, non-tacky, mobile mass of divided substance, comprising rigid relatively unbendable end-walls, side-walls of flexible sheet material anchored to said endwalls tensionally stressed from end-wall to end- Wall so as to prevent mutual separation thereof, the contents in said package'being compacted under pressure into the entire available space therein and in compressive engagement between and against the end-walls so that theyare substantially non-shiftably confined by the walls of said package and act to tension the side-walls between the end-walls and rigidly to support the side-walls of flexible material.

3. A' package of a relatively dry, non-tacky, mobile mass of divided substance, characterized by the visual and tactual aspects of a metallic container, said package having rigid relatively unbendable end-walls anchored to each other against mutual separation by flexible front, back and edge walls tensionally stressed from endwall to end-wall, metallic foil covering some of said flexible walls, and flexible sheet material overlying the remaining flexible walls and concealing the edges ofsaid foil, said package having its confined contents solidly compacted under pressure into a substantially unyielding block or mass in compressive engagement between and against the end-walls occupying all of the available space therein so that they are substantially non-shiftable and fully engage all of the package walls and tension the front, back and edge walls between the end-walls.

4. A package of a relatively dry, non-tacky, mobile mass of divided substance characterized by the visual and tactual aspects of a container formed entirely of rigid material, said package having polygonal rigid relatively unbendable end-walls anchored to each other against mutual separation by side-walls of flexible material tensionally stressed from end-wall to end-wall, and having its confined contents solidly compacted under pressure into a substantially unyielding block or mass in compressive engagement between and against the end-walls occupying all of the available space within the package rigidly supporting its flexible walls and tensioning them between the end-walls in substantially nonyielding planes bounded by definite comers.

5. A package of a relatively dry, non-tacky, mobile mass of divided substance having the tactility of a container made entirely of rigid material, said package comprising rigid relatively unbendable end-walls, and paper side-walls tensionally stressed from end-wall to end-wall 'at least some of which are folded over and fastened to the outside of said end-walls to prevent mutual separation thereof, said package having its confined contents solidly compacted under pressure into a substantially unyielding block or mass in compressive engagement between and against the end-walls occupying all of the available space end-walls.

GEORGE R. WEBBER. THOMAS R. BAXTER. 

